


The Call

by edgyjordan



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Also headcanons, Angst, F/F, Fluff, Nightmares, and steven just wants to help, help her, lapis is still in the ocean, lots of headcanons, peridot is just really lonely, there might b a lot of angst before it gets fluffy sorry
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-23
Updated: 2017-02-09
Packaged: 2018-05-22 20:41:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 11,228
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6093439
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/edgyjordan/pseuds/edgyjordan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>I'll come back,</i>
  <br/>
  <i>When you call me,</i>
  <br/>
  <i>No need to say goodbye.</i>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>It's time to call Lapis back.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. 6 AM

**Author's Note:**

> I hope y'all enjoy this!  
> I'm hoping to update regularly but I can't promise anything.  
> First chapter is p short.

Peridot was sat down, admiring the view. Steven had said it was always good to take breaks. That's what she was doing. Taking a long break, staring wistfully at the ocean. Or longingly. It would be nice to be submerged in waves. Nothing to bother her. Nothing.

Except for what lay at the bottom of the ocean.

And the gem that it belonged to.

It was a weird and rocky relationship that couldn't be explained by Peridot. It was confusing, and that was all she really knew. It was what troubled her so greatly when she saw the ocean. The strange, confusing and upsetting relationship.

Nobody had the guts to ask her about it. Not yet, anyway. It might take a while for them to say anything about Lapis. But Peridot knew exactly where Lapis was. It didn't matter, anyway. Nothing really did, apart from the regret that Peridot felt.

Footsteps crunched on dry grass behind her. They were gentle, but still a little clumpy and loud. Naturally, Peridot knew those to be Steven's footsteps. She turned around slightly to meet him. He waved and sat down next to her.

"Hi, Peridot." Steven began.

Peridot replied quietly, a slight sound of annoyance in her voice. "Good morning, Steven."

He yawned. "Yeah, good morning. It's like 6 in the morning! Can't you sleep?"

Peridot snorted in lame laughter. "Sleep! Hahah! Sleeping is stupid!" Her laughter cut abruptly. "You know I don't need sleep, Steven."

"Well, yeah, I know that, but... Sleep is fun and all. You get to dream." Steven smiled over at Peridot.

"And what is... Dreaming?" Peridot asked, a brow raised.

Steven yawned again before answering. "Oh, uh... Dreaming is like producing movies in your mind. It can be memories, or stuff that never even happened. Most of the time, it's just random stuff. I think you'd like it though, Peridot. It's fun!"

"Why would I want to relive a memory, or make up a stupid dream in my head? It'd be a pain." Peridot huffed, turning her back on Steven.

He sighed until something came onto his mind. "Hey Peridot, can you tell me a story?"

Peridot raised a brow. "A story? A story about what?" She asked.

"I don't know... When you were on that big hand ship with Lapis and Jasper?" Steven offered.

Peridot took a moment, but she agreed. If he was interested, she might as well. It'd just been so long since she's talked, yet alone seen Lapis. She could only think about what she must have thought about Peridot now...

"If you really want to hear about what went on in that ship... I guess I'll tell you." She puffed.

He nodded and waited for her to go on. She began to illustrate her story, setting it out for him. On the way to Earth... Well, the ship was rather miserable. The entire crew was literally just Peridot, Jasper and Lapis. That's all that was needed. Jasper spent all her time complaining to Peridot and Peridot didn't really know what Lapis did.

Well, she did. But it wasn't very nice. "Lazuli spent a lot of time doing... Absolutely nothing. To be honest, I tried my best to ignore her, but did a pretty lousy job at that. We didn't watch her very much because Jasper didn't see her as a threat. It was stupid, Steven." Peridot mumbled.

Whenever she set the ship to autopilot, she'd go out and actively search the ship for Lapis, managing to avoid Jasper in the best of scenarios. She decided to tell Steven about a time when she did manage to find the ocean gem and actually talk to her.

"It wasn't that hard to even locate her." Peridot said with a shrug. "I mean, we have cameras and stuff all over the place. I just wanted to talk to her."

It was hard to tell the story since Peridot had put it to the back of her mind. Steven continued to ponder it. "So you spoke to Lapis?"

Peridot nodded, giving a shrug. "She didn't really want to talk to me, but I sat down with her and talked, even if she didn't say anything back. I kinda needed it, even if she didn't reply."

"What'd you talk about?" Steven asked.

"Uh... I mostly complained about Jasper and the ship conditions. Also..." Peridot looked a little guilty for a moment, "I complained about Homeworld. A lot." 

Steven chuckled at this. "Even back then you were kind of a rebel, Peridot."

"Well, I was sent on the mission with absolutely no warning. It was rude." She huffed in response. "Once I was done talking, Lazuli actually replied. She told me about herself..."

Steven looked intrigued by this, so Peridot explained to him what Lapis explained to her. She told him about how Lapis was actually a previous member of Blue Diamond's court before being sent to Earth.

"She was strong, powerful... Well-known. Respected. Yet I had never heard of her before." Peridot muttered, now fiddling with her fingers. "So she must have taken a heavy fall."

Peridot turned to the ocean and Steven placed a hand on her shoulder. "Maybe Sapphire knew Lapis!"

Peridot raised a brow. "Sapphire?"

"Oh, uh... She's one part of Garnet." Peridot nodded, letting out a quiet 'ahhh'.

"Was Sapphire a member of Blue Diamond's court?" Peridot inquired, glancing at Steven sideways.

Steven nodded. "Yeah. Garnet told me about Sapphire. She was a well respected member of the court, like Lapis."

"Maybe..." Peridot muttered, creasing her brow in thought."

"We should definitely ask her soon," Steven replied, "And you can get some more insight. If you care about Lapis just as much as I do, we're twice as likely to find her."

Peridot chuckled, scratching her face. "Haha, yeah. Twice as likely to find her..."

"Malachite is really unstable, so I'm worried about her..." Steven mumbled, frowning.

Peridot's face contorted into worry. "She'll be fine, right? She's still as strong as ever..."

"Yeah, I hope so! She's under water, and water is her element after all. I'm sure she'll win against Jasper!"

Peridot let a little smile onto her face. "Yeah. I believe in her. Lazuli was always pretty determined, even when... Even when Jasper put her in a cell."

Steven frowned. "Did you still talk to her after that?"

"When I could. Again, Jasper is pretty manipulative. But I was the one keeping an eye on the cameras, and the one keeping an eye on her. So yeah, I did. I tried to keep her company." Peridot replied with a gentle shrug. "I don't think she liked me very much after that."

"Come on, Peridot. She'll forgive you if you help me save her." Steven replied.

Peridot narrowed her eyes and a wide smile spread on her face. "That's it, Steven. We'll go and save her together."

It sounded like a crazy idea but it would work if they tried. With Peridot's smarts and Steven's expansive knowledge of all things pointless, well... You never knew. They just had to make the best out of what they had. And what they had was a young boy with a friend and an almost-psychopathic gem.

Peridot refused to let this get her down. They were going to save Lapis Lazuli. "I mean, I built a giant robot before. Why don't we just build a submarine or something? Those things that go underwater are submarines, right?"

"Yeah..." Steven clarified, "But Peridot! It's really dangerous! What if there's... What if there's sharks?!"

Peridot squinted at him. "What is... A shark?"

"These big, dangerous fishes with sharp teeth. They're really scary!" Steven replied with a shiver.

"Easy. I'll build defence mechanisms into the submarine to diffuse the shark population. How hard can it be?"

With Peridot set on building a submarine and going to the bottom of the ocean to save Lapis, there wasn't much Steven could do to give his input on this one. Peridot piped up again. "Oh, oh! Or we could camouflage the submarine to look like a shark! That would look good..."

"Peridot, I don't know if we can do that! We're using a lot of material for the gem drill, and we don't know what we can spare and... This mission is really dangerous! Somebody could get REALLY hurt... Like you, or me... Or if we find her, Lapis!" Peridot flinched, frowning.

"...Yeah. You're right. It was more like the crazy delusions of a gem who just... Wants somebody back. And I want her to forgive me, too. Because... I'm a good gem now!"  Peridot seemed to be getting frustrated, so Steven patted her shoulder reassuringly.

"Don't worry. All we have to do is ask. We can ask the gems for help, and... They will help us get Lapis back. And you two can become real friends!" This reassured Peridot and she smiled at Steven.

"Thanks."

"And maybe... Maybe while you wait for the perfect time to bring it up in a conversation with the gems, you could sleep! And definitely not marathon any more episodes of Camp Pining Hearts. I have no idea how you found the rest of my tapes of that..." Steven mumbled the last part, looking in a different direction.

"Oh, come on Steven! I just got to the episode where Percy and Pierre becomes canon. That's not fair." Peridot huffed, crossing her arms.

"I can barely get to sleep at night because of you, Peridot..." Steven sighed, rubbing his head. "So it's time you get some sleep, too!"

Peridot huffed, pouting. Steven shook his head and walked back to the barn. Peridot sighed and she sidled behind him ever so slowly. "Sleeping... I don't even need to sleep. I'm a gem, I have all the energy I need... It's pointless. Pointless! POINTLESS!"

"Peridot! Keep it down! It's only like, half past 6. That's really early. That's also why you need to get some sleep. Because you go outside and stare at the view at 6am!" Steven whisper-shouted.

Peridot continued to mutter, but this time quietly. Upon returning to the barn, Steven indicated to a very cushioned spot seemingly made specially for Peridot. She shot him a glare, which he interpreted as a "Wow, thanks!" and gave her a thumbs up.

She scowled and sat down on the cushioned area before falling back on her back, spreading her arms wide and staring at the high ceiling with anger burning in her eyes. Steven whispered a goodnight. "Night, Peridot! Sleep well!"

It took Peridot another 30 minutes until she finally even attempted to sleep. And after about a quarter of an hour, she finally did sleep, sprawled in an odd position. It was a comfortable sleep and it was a comfortable spot. Exactly what she needed, really. She actually dreamed of something that night... Morning?


	2. Who she used to be

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peridot has a nightmare, wakes up and seems to have a crowded situation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was written alongside chapter one.  
> I hope you enjoy it, and if there's any issues feel free to tell me.  
> Your support is always appreciated!

"Peridot..." A gentle whisper came from behind the green gem. "Don't leave me all alone, Peridot."

Peridot recognised that voice. She turned and, shrouded in darkness, Lapis Lazuli. Her hand was outstretched and there were tears in her eyes. "Don't go." The ocean gem hissed.

Peridot's eyes widened and she tried to hold her hand out to grab Lapis', but she didn't move. Instead, her body turned around and she began to walk away. It was getting lighter and lighter ahead of her, but all she could hear was the dark screams from Lapis.

Tears began to fall from Peridot's face. "Don't go, Peridot! Don't leave me here all alone again!" It was overwhelming. She couldn't stop herself from walking away. She wasn't in control. "Peridot! Why are you leaving me again?"

The words stung Peridot like a bee. And then the voice grew quiet and weak, and then absolutely silent as Peridot shot up in her cushioned sleeping nest. She was in a cold sweat, breathing heavy and hard. She looked around, and to her surprise had gathered quite a crowd. Her eyes were wide and the gems were staring at her. Well, not really staring at her, but staring above her.

Her gem was projecting a now empty image. She let out a grunt and batted at the image with her hands several times. It disappeared. She sighed heavily.

"Peridot? Are you okay?" Steven asked, a brow raised in concern.

"What? Of course I'm fine. I don't know what you're talking about." Peridot huffed, crossing her arms over her chest firmly. She turned her back to them and hid behind her legs.

"You had a really vivid dream. It was nice at first, but... Um, it... It didn't look nice after a while." Steven mumbled, fiddling with his sandals.

Peridot's expression turned worried. "You saw that? All of you saw that?"

Steven gave a guilty nod. "I didn't mean to pry, but you were kinda loud." Steven said, getting very quiet all of a sudden.

Yeah, Peridot did notice how many pillows were strewn about the place and how she was in a completely different position than before. Some gems weren't made for sleeping. Or in most cases, all gems. Peridot had thrashed around in her sleep. Good thing nobody was nearby to get thrashed by her.

"You woke Steven up." Pearl mumbled. "Over a dream about Lapis Lazuli? Oh my." She cupped her own face in a hand.

Peridot blushed green and hid her face even more. "It was a mistake. A movie my mind made... For the purpose of annoying me."

"Looks like it worked, P-Dot." Amethyst chuckled.

"Amethyst, this is no laughing matter! The dream could have been... Symbolic." Pearl seemed to have had to forced the words out of her mouth. Peridot sighed and pouted.

She remembered that she needed to ask Garnet a question. "Ah, yes! Garnet, I have an inquiry. About Lapis Lazuli."

"You seem to have Lapis on the brain today." Amethyst chuckled.

Peridot cleared her throat loudly. Amethyst grew quiet. "Go on." Garnet replied.

"I was wondering... If Sapphire has ever interacted with Lapis, being a member of Blue Diamond's court and all." Peridot finished, a hopeful look in her eyes.

"...Sapphire has seen Lapis Lazuli twice. Neither of them interacted at all during those times. So I'm sorry, but I can't tell you anything." Garnet answered.

The hopeful look didn't disappear, though. "You can tell me something." Her eyes narrowed. "When did you see her?"

Garnet let out a sigh. "The first time was when the court was assembled. Sapphire glimpsed at Lapis talking to another gem. The gem wasn't a member of the court, however. The second time was when Ruby and Sapphire met."

Steven bounced in at this point. "Lapis saw Ruby and Sapphire meeting?! Wow!"

Garnet pushed up her glasses and they glinted. "Yes. She was also there when the current Crystal Gems attacked and when Blue Diamond fled."

Peridot hummed for a moment, seemingly deep in thought. "She must have been through a lot. I don't know any reports of that attack, so I find myself very lost as to what to think of it. Thank you though."

Garnet nodded. "No problem."

Pearl poked in at this point. "You know, I know my bit about Lapis Lazuli too. We all do... Apart from Amethyst." Amethyst frowned at this.

"Hey, I wasn't there!"

"We know, Amethyst." Pearl huffed.

"You guys never actually told me what it is you have against Lapis?" Steven asked, a brow raised.

"Well, Steven... I wouldn't say we had anything against her. But she was present around about the war. She briefly fought on Earth for Blue Diamond until... Well, she was captured." Pearl muttered.

"How did she break her gem?" Peridot spoke up.

"Well... I- Uh, I don't know..." Pearl replied in a whisper.

Peridot squinted at Pearl. "You didn't break her gem, did you?"

"No! Of course not, we just, um, subdued her." Pearl murmured.

Peridot pondered it for a minute. "What reason did you have to not smash her gem?"

"Because why would we? We're not... Monsters." Pearl replied with an awkward chuckle.

Peridot narrowed her eyes, frowning. "You're a lot better than Homeworld, at least. You know... If Yellow Diamond ever does find me, she'll kill me."

She sounded calm, but in her head she was quite distressed. The gems looked genuinely worried about her. Peridot sighed, puffing out her cheek. "It doesn't matter."

"Don't worry, Peridot! We'll keep you safe." Steven insisted, nodding.

Peridot sighed in annoyance. "I'm not worrying. You don't need to worry for me."

It was quiet for a long while, so Peridot stood up and ran outside. It was nice out here. Shortly, the other gems came outside and Steven walked up next to her. "Summer mornings are always so nice."

Peridot raised a brow in confusion. "Summer? What's that."

"Summer is a season. The warm season, whereas another season, Winter, is really cold. There's actually 4 seasons, though. Winter, Spring, Summer and Autumn." Steven replied.

Peridot nodded slowly. "Ahhh... I see."

The Crystal Gems seemed to have come to a decision while Steven was informing Peridot about the seasons. Pearl spoke up, a hint of disbelief in her tone. "Alright, well... We've come to a decision.

"Since it seems to be disrupting both your abilities to work at a better pace, We're going to find Lapis Lazuli." Pearl finished.

Peridot's eyes widened in complete shock. "Oh my Stars... Haha! Yesss!" She jumped up and down on the spot in excitement. "Submarine! Submarine! Submarine!"

Pearl chuckled. "We're not going to be using a submarine for this, Peridot."

"What?! What are you going to use, then?!" Peridot asked, eyes narrowed.

"Well, we'll go for a good old fashioned search." Pearl replied, shrugging.

"How inefficient," Peridot commented, "but it will do."

"You know..." Pearl mumbled, thinking for a while, "We didn't put Lapis Lazuli inside that mirror. She disappeared out of the blue one day, and then... Well, I suppose we found her in the mirror. I didn't know it was her, though..."

Steven narrowed his eyes along with Peridot. "What do you mean you didn't know it was her?"

Pearl shrugged. "It's gem-powered technology, Steven. It could have been anything."

Steven pouted. "It wasn't right, anyway. She was afraid of you guys. I think we need to work on trust, really."

Peridot turned to Steven. "We don't have time for trust exercises. You gems have a job to do, don't you? And that's protect the world. You want to protect the world? Go get Lapis back." She barked.

"Peridot, it's really not so simple-" Pearl began.

"Come onnn..." Peridot complained, hitting the ground with her hands impatiently. "Can't we just go? I mean, you never know. We might find her really fast. We need to actually go search if you want to see if we do." Peridot huffed.

Pearl sighed. "Why is it so important to see Lapis Lazuli anyway?"

"'Cause she's got a crush on her, P." Amethyst snorted.

"I do not!" Peridot cried defiantly. She cleared her throat. "I need to apologise to her. I was... A clod."

Amethyst giggled in response. "You were a clod? Like, you're apologising for being bad and all?"

"Well... Yes. I suppose. But I was bad to her in specific. I didn't care about her feelings." Peridot began to gesticulate wildly. "I was bad, I didn't do anything to get her out of containment, and... I feel bad."

"That's... Surprisingly nice of you to come to terms with your unsatisfactory behaviour, Peridot. That's very big of you." Pearl commented.

Peridot stared for a moment before replying. "You're all still clods, though."

Amethyst let out a sigh and a giggle snort. "I guess good things can't last forever, huh, Peridactyl?"

"Why are you adding actyl into the end of the first half of my name?" Peridot asked, squinting.

"A pterodactyl is a kind of dinosaur. It's like, kinda cool and can fly and stuff. Besides, it's a nickname. It doesn't need to make sense." Amethyst replied.

"I'm really learning a lot of pointless things about Earth through you. However, no need to explain dinosaurs to me! I know that they are reptillian creatures that inhabited the Earth thousands of years ago, with many different breeds and types, such as the infamous Tyrannosaurus Rex. The big carnivore that eats all the other, seemingly less important and lower on the food chain, dinosaurs." Peridot closed her eyes and folded her arms over her chest, proud.

"Hey, you know who reminds me of a T-Rex?" Amethyst added with a stifled giggle.

Peridot opened an eye. "Who?"

Amethyst began to laugh. "Yellow Diamond." As soon as she said it, Steven let out a little giggle.

"...Hm." Peridot was quiet for a moment, but slowly began to laugh along with Steven and Amethyst. Pearl chuckled quietly.  "Yes. That comparison is quite fitting. She goes around, practically eating all the other clods that don't follow her orders. As if they are lower than her. Good one, Amethyst!"

Amethyst stopped laughing after a moment. Peridot kind of made the joke un-funny. "Haha... Yeah. That was the joke."

They were engulfed in silence for a few moments before somebody - Pearl - spoke up. "Anything else before we get this show on the road?"

"Yeah... How are we going to get me across the ocean?" Steven asked.

"We're going to need a boat." Pearl replied, thinking. "A good boat. No more rubber dingies."

"Yeah, that proved very ineffective last time." Amethyst laughed. "And it was late, and everybody was tired."

"A boat? I see... Do we have enough material to make a boat?" Peridot asked.

Pearl shrugged. "We'll have to look through our supplies. However, with our expertise, we should be able to make the boat very quickly. It doesn't need to be anything special."

"So... Does that mean no lasers?" Peridot asked.

"No lasers." Pearl replied.

"Are you sure?" Peridot persisted. "They could be useful... For something."

"Maybe some floodlights, or some bright lights, or something... But no lasers. We do not need lasers to go out to sea and search for Lapis." Pearl finished.

"But you never know--"

"Ah, Peridot. No." Pearl interrupted swiftly. "None of that."

"Hey, Garnet?" Amethyst spoke up. "Is this gonna be like, a road trip? Except on a boat?"

Pearl answered for Garnet. "We might be spending a while abroad so yes, you may want to take anything you need. Worry not, Steven. You can bring any food you like. I'll add in a refrigerator or something of the sort. I'll think about that when me and Peridot figure out the blueprints."

"I get to help design the boat?" Peridot asked. Pearl nodded. "So why don't I get to put lasers on it?"

"Because, Peridot, this is a team effort. And the team does not need lasers. Why does it even need lasers? What's with you and lasers?" Pearl scoffed.

"Because everything has lasers. Everything cool." Peridot replied sourly.

Pearl shook her head, grumbling quietly. Garnet finally said something. "If something arises and we need lasers, you will be the first to know, Peridot."

Peridot pumped her fist, smiling. "Lasers are always useful somehow."

Pearl mumbled something to Garnet and she chuckled. "Why not?"

"It's a waste of our resources!" Pearl puffed.

Garnet shrugged. Looks like lasers was a maybe. Peridot was beaming at the thought of it. Wait, lasers could burn the retina of the eyeball if it was strong enough. What if the laser got in one of their eyes-- or even worse, Lapis' eyes. That'd take ages to regenerate. It's also really, really hurt. Maybe lasers was a bad idea.

"Actually, on second thought--" Peridot began.

"Alright, gems, let's build ourselves a boat." Garnet interrupted.

Looks like it was too late to rethink the lasers.


	3. Boat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time to make a boat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapter after this one is going to be a short one.  
> Thank you for the support so far! Sorry for any mistakes in this chapter, feel free to tell me.

There was a lot of parts to making a boat. But drawing boat blueprints was easy. Peridot could totally work with this. Pearl seemed fairly happy with the large piece of paper rolled out on the floor of the barn. Peridot would have to agree - these blueprints would get them far in the ship-building industry. 

It was a relatively normal boat. They had discarded the lasers after a long discussion as to how they would actually be used and for health and safety, the lasers were discontinued. Peridot was okay with this, despite being the one to spur the laser argument. Lasers were too bulky, anyway. She wasn't sour about it. They were searching for somebody, not killing them.

Unless the gems had some secret plan to murder Lapis Lazuli once they located her. Peridot strongly doubted that, however. She actually trusted them, even though they were literally traitors. But... She was a traitor too. Maybe traitors should stay together. That was the traitor code, or would be if it existed. She tapped her chin as she thought, staring down at the blueprint with a contemplative look on her face. Her thought process was quickly interrupted.

"Peridot? Do you want to get started on making this boat?" Came Pearl's voice from... somewhere. Peridot looked up and saw her holding a piece of metal near a scrap pile.

"But of course. I'm ready whenever you are." Peridot replied. She held up a screw driver, turning it on for a moment and smiling.

Pearl nodded. "Then let us get to boat construction,"

Making a boat was tiring, Peridot quickly learnt. Sure, making a drill was a lot of work, but boats needed parts which they had to build. They could get drill heads from the kindergarten, but where were they going to get a boat engine? It was going to take a long time and Peridot was very, very impatient. So she worked hard. This was going to be the best and most efficient boat ever made. It was going to move on water really well and help them get to their objective. There was no doubt about it.

Everybody thought she was crazy. And yes, she was slightly deranged. However, the only cure was success. And success was what she was planning to get. That's why she was working through the night. Working particularly loudly through the night. Plenty of times she had passed out at any given time after working herself so hard. It was incredible. She didn't even know she could pass out. She was the only one not worrying about herself.

A shiver ran down her spine, despite the burning-hot feeling of the welder. It was late and cold and she was getting tired again. dropping the welder on the ground, she pulled up the mask to inspect her work. Not bad. Sturdy. Could do with a little more. She pulled the mask back down, picked up the iron and went back into her process. Throughout the process her welding had gotten sloppier and sloppier throughout the night, nobody could blame her. Even Pearl wasn't working on the boat at that hour. It was half past 2. A dangerous time to be awake... Well, no. It was just dark. The fire of the welder illuminated the area anyway, so Peridot didn't care.

Inspecting her work one last time, she nodded appreciatively and was pleased with her work. She let out both a sigh and a yawn, quickly cursing herself. Gems didn't need sleep, so why was she tired? Besides, if she slept she'd just have a nightmare and then wake up again, embarrassing herself. She didn't need that.

"You still up, P-Dot?" Came a voice. It was coming from behind her, so she turned to see Amethyst.

"Of course-" Peridot yawned again- "I don't stop working until I collapse."

"And that," Amethyst commented, "Is very unhealthy. What's the big deal, anyway? Why you gotta apologize so bad?"

"Amethyst, it's not just about apologizing. It's about openly feeling bad for your actions. I need to tell her I'm sorry, or else I'll always feel bad forever. Besides, I want to save her. It's what's right, isn't it?" Peridot replied.

Amethyst sighed, rubbing her arm. "I guess so. If you want to focus on doing what you think is right, go ahead. But I don't think Lapis would want you working extra hard until you literally pass out to just save her."

"You don't know Lazuli," Peridot huffed sourly, "I think she'd appreciate it. Very much, as a matter of fact!"

Amethyst frowned, a sad look on her face. Peridot frowned back. "Peridot, you need to chill out. This isn't helping anybody. I get that your sad and mad and you have all this pent-up pain, but just sit down and talk to me, Peri."

Amethyst grabbed two nearby cushions and sat on one of them. She placed the other next to her and patted it patiently. Peridot rolled her eyes, giving in to the tired part of her that just wanted to sit down, curl up and cry. She didn't give into the rest of it, though. Just the first part.

"Alright, you've got me. I'm sitting and I'm resting." Peridot mumbled, crossing her arms as if to make very clear that she was reluctant and unwilling to do this. The cushion was comfortable.

"Talk to me, P-Dot. Tell me whassup with this Lapis business." Amethyst requests.

Peridot let out a disgruntled sigh. "I was a bad gem. I need to confess. Besides, it's about time we got her back."

"So...?" Amethyst waited for some form of continuation from Peridot.

Peridot sniffled. "I didn't even get to say goodbye."

"Oh, NO." Amethyst huffed, patting Peridot's shoulder. "You are not going to start crying. Don't start crying, Peri-D."

"I'm not crying!" Peridot barked, glaring." Regardless of her words, tears still pricked the corners of her eyes. She ignored them. "I just have to do this. It's important to me."

Amethyst grabbed Peridot's shoulders. "It's fine. I know it's important to you. I think Lapis would be proud of your devotion and all..." Peridot pulled a face at that and Amethyst giggled. "Well, you still need to take breaks and talk."

Peridot chewed her lip before answering "I only ever really spoke to Lapis."

Amethyst was quiet for a moment, but then she smiled. "You have us now, P-Dot. No prob."

Peridot shot a glare at Amethyst. "It's really not the same. She was calm, peaceful... She understood even through her own trauma. It was soothing to listen to each other's problems, even with those problems still wrecking havoc around us. But we still found peace. That's all that matters."

"What's wrong with something different?" Amethyst asked. Her eyebrow was raised improperly high.

"I don't know... Nothing. You guys are fine, but you're different and I don't know what to think or say to you." Peridot mumbled, her hands slowly raising up to grab her head in anger.

"Okay, I get it. You prefer Lapis because you like her better."

It took Peridot a moment to respond, but when she finally did it was with a guilty nod. "I do like her better. She knows me and I know her. We know each other. Well."

"I guess. We- well, I learnt a lot more about Lapis Lazuli through you, so you know her better than anybody else here apart from maybe Steven." Amethyst contemplated.

"It doesn't matter anymore, Amethyst. Let's just drop this." Peridot hissed, a scowl formulating onto her face and her eyes narrowed in pure hostility. In all honesty, she felt a little worse than earlier after that.

"Alright. Well, Pearl should be in here to check on your progress and help out some more." Amethyst replied before standing up. Peridot followed suit, taking the pillows and replacing them in her pillow fort.

"I see. I suppose I'll see her then, then." Peridot finished. Amethyst turned away and walked off, but not before yelling something.

"If you think shiny boats will impress that gem, you're deluded."

Peridot didn't have time to respond, so instead she thought it over in her head. Lapis liked a lot of things. The ocean, story telling, freedom... Yeah. A lot of things. She'd love a boat. But now everybody was acting like the boat was a ticking time bomb. Peridot could only presume what that meant for her, and it couldn't be good.

Besides, boats weren't bombs. They only exploded when something went wrong... And nothing was going to go wrong. She puffed, walking back towards her welding work. It looked good. The welding for this section was done.

She heard footsteps from behind again. Pearl, obviously. The delicate tap of her feet gave her away. "Peridot. You seem to have been working hard."

Pieces of welded metal and machines surrounded Peridot. Yes, as a matter of fact, she did work very hard. Pearl didn't seem impressed, though. How disappointing. She nodded and Pearl shook her head. "With you working like this, it should take one more day to be done." Peridot's eyes lit up.

Pearl sighed. "And then we'll find her."

Peridot tapped her fingers together. "Yes. We'll find her." A little smile edged it's way onto her face.

Pearl didn't reply, merely walking closer to inspect Peridot's welding work. Peridot stood proudly, puffing out her chest. The corner's of Pearl's mouth creased down more. The inevitable feeling of disappointment. "Your welding work is off."

Peridot blinked at the weld. She rubbed her eyes, looking closer at it. It was off, yes. Not a big surprise, considering she hadn't relaxed in ages. Her eyes had failed her at the miniature details. A little hole peeked out of the metal. She threw down her mask, grabbed the welder and quickly corrected it. "Better?"

Pearl crossed her arms. "Better."

Peridot puffed out a breath of air. "Good. We really need to finish this off. It's so close to being done, Pearl." She began to whine. "And I'll rest once it's over. I just want to finish it and then calm down and cool off."

"It's all in a days work, Peridot." There was a moment of knowing silence shared between them. All that could be heard is the whir of a machine Peridot forgot to turn off. "Amethyst was talking to you, was she?" Pearl asked.

Peridot nodded before narrowing her eyes angrily, crossing her arms and letting out a quiet 'hmmmph'. "And sticking her... nose into my privacy."

Pearl sighed and chuckled quietly, nodding. "Yes. She does tend to do that a lot. You'll get used to it after a little while. What was she asking about?"

"Lapis," Peridot proceeded to throw her hands in the air. "Although I don't get why she can't understand that I simply need to apologize. I'm half of the reason she's in the ocean right now and if I was a good friend and person, she wouldn't be there. Therefore it's mostly my fault, and I should feel really bad. I do feel really bad. I feel terrible."

Pearl held up her hands. "Calm down, Peridot. Now, I don't think you could have come to a better gem to consult than me,"

"I'm not consulting you, I'm just telling you what you wanted to know and then providing extra details." Peridot corrected.

"Okay, well... You could have not asked a better gem to consult than me. Despite not being very good at human relationships since I don't... indulge in that, friendship among gems is a lot more simple. We're simple beings, Peridot." Pearl continued. "I don't think anybody would have expected you to overthink in such a manner. It was more or less beyond your control. I'm sure Lapis could appreciate that and that she's a lot more of an easy-going gem than you believe."

"What? So she'll just forgive me if I apologize? I really think gems are a lot denser than that, Pearl." Peridot replied.

"I suppose you're right on that one. Rose Quartz is a very good example of a rather... complicated gem." Pearl let out a quiet chuckle. "I could never tell what she was really thinking most of the time unless she was really conveying her emotions, and I was by her side for most of her life."

Peridot glanced at Pearl sideways. "That's kind of sad, Pearl." Peridot pursed her lips momentarily. "But when you live for somebody, I guess you stay by their side for a while. Were you made for Rose Quartz, then?"

Peridot watched as Pearl hesitated to answer. "Yes." she breathed. "She picked me out because I was... defective." She mumbled the last part of her sentence and Peridot frowned. 

"How kind of her." Peridot remarked, her eyes narrowed. She placed her hands on her hips. "Such kindness is rare on behalf of Homeworld. Rose Quartz must really be something different. Most of the gems over there, well... They wouldn't bat an eyelid at the defectives."

Pearl looked away and rubbed her arm. It came to Peridot's mind that she might have offended Pearl. "Sorry, I was just saying--"

"Oh, no. It's fine." Pearl interrupted with a wave of her hand. "Yes, it was the same way when I was first created. Defectives like me were frowned upon and generally never put to work. We just had to wait until somebody eventually chose us, and that person was Rose Quartz for me."

Peridot hummed softly, thinking. "I can actually understand your devotion a lot more. I'd be upset if I lost somebody who pulled me out of all that belittlement, too. I guess I'm lucky you gems took me on as a Crystal Gem, or else..." She stopped talking. If they hadn't accepted her as a Crystal Gem, nothing would be very 'correct'. It was hard to think about it.

Pearl smiled brightly, however. "I'm glad we could help, Peridot. And I suppose if Rose Quartz saved me, we saved you... And now we need to save Lapis Lazuli to continue our little chain." Pearl remarked. She grabbed a welding mask and a welder and grabbed a piece of metal. "So I'm glad to be of assistance."

Pearl began to start welding more material onto the detailed hull of the ship. It was really starting to take place, positioned out on the grass outside the barn for now. Peridot felt a smile break on to her face. "Good. Now, an off topic question, I've been reading up on ship crews and who is going to be our captain?" Peridot asked.

"Well, most likely Garnet." Pearl remarked, tapping her chin as she thought. She gave a hearty shrug and continued to her welding operation.

The pair worked in silence for a while, directly into morning. Once Steven woke up, Peridot admired the boat. Her only worry was that the ship wouldn't float, but she was fairly certain they had it down. A day. An entire day was a long way to wait, but they had been making it for 5 days.

"Good morning, Pearl, Peridot." Steven yawned, patting his mouth.

"Good morning, Steven." Pearl and Peridot replied in unison.

"Aaah... I had a good sleep last night." Steven mumbled, smiling brightly. "So, is the ship going to be finished today?"

His eyes shone with excitement. He seemed pretty happy to be going out to sea. The ocean wasn't really Peridot's thing, but it was pretty cool. "Pearl thinks so, yes."

"Awesome! Captain Steven, leading his crew into the dangers of the wild sea!" Steven cheered, his smile only growing louder.

Pearl chuckled. "Yes, well you can be the captain Steven. Maybe you should find yourself a costume to fit with your status?"

"I thought Garnet was going to be the captain?" Peridot asked, a brow raised.

"She can be my... co-captain! We'll work together and she'll make the ship sail." Steven replied, still smiling.

Peridot nodded slowly before responding. "The ship's steering is pretty much automated. I mean, manual override is available, if you want the experience to be..." She hesitated. "Authentic."

Steven hummed, but nodded anyway. "Okay! That's fine!"

Peridot reluctantly yawned. She held her hand over her mouth with a grunt afterwards. "Ugh. I'm going to build this ship tonight if it's the last thing I do."

The rest of the day was accompanied with Peridot working on the boat, mostly on her own but occasionally alongside Pearl. Amethyst and Garnet occasionally joined in for some of the hard parts, leaving Steven to watch them all get along. It was a long and hard journey, with a lot of anger and yelling from Peridot and a lot of Amethyst accidentally dropping things. Occasionally Amethyst would drop something on Pearl's foot, but Peridot was fairly certain this was not an accident. Garnet would sigh, shake her head and chuckle quietly. Pearl would get very angry for a minute or two, recover and go back to her own business. It confused Peridot.

And then, they finished. The ship was built and well, the gems fused momentarily and took it to the beach, putting it down on the ocean quickly. That was a fast way to do things. Fusion was very useful, in more than one way. She smiled as she admired how her invention could actually float. It was working, and that was better than anything. All the things had come together to make what was in the blueprints. Peridot was very impressed with their work and she was practically jumping for joy, although she tried to keep herself calm and composed.

"It looks good. I'm proud of our work, and it's stunning that we... we really did it." She grinned. "We really did it!"

"Yeah! And now, we're gonna go on a boating trip!" Steven replied, He jumped from foot to foot and Peridot couldn't help but giggle along with him excitedly. This was going to be very fun and very successful. She could not wait.


	4. Toxic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's nearly been a year. It's hard to stick together when it's nearly been a year.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally a Malachite chapter :0  
> It's short bc Lapis is mean. Though the next chapter is a lot/little longer.  
> hee hee (enjoy)

Being half of Malachite was awful. It genuinely hurt to be part of such a horrible, toxic relationship that couldn't be escaped. Lapis couldn't stop doing anything. She had to keep straining. She had to stay together. She _needed_  to stay in control. Something in the back of her mind screamed out to be saved by something or somebody, but sh couldn't pin it down. She wasn't allowed to, or else Jasper would regain control. She wouldn't have it. 

Malachite let out a grunt. Frozen in the ocean, held down by the weight of the world, Malachite couldn't move. Not an inch. Most of her time, absolutely nothing happened. It was hard to have any thoughts at all when your entire mind was shut off. The gem in control had to keep control. Lapis was strong. She needed Jasper, or else Malachite would be finished. She was already on her last legs.

The ocean rippled above her. Malachite didn't look up. The cold pricked at the fusion. She couldn't do anything about it. Fish swam right in front of her eyes. Malachite didn't bat an eyelid. She remained immobile. As usual, immobile. Doing absolutely nothing in fear of breaking into tiny shards. Lapis couldn't let that happen. She knew, though, that eventually... All her work would be ruined. She obviously refused to let that day be today. Or at least, tried hard to not let it be.

But sometimes, even the worst of people can overcome the biggest of milestones. Today was Jasper's day. Today, this fusion was going to get destroyed. 

Without realizing what was happening, Lapis felt control being torn from her and suddenly, Jasper was forcing herself out. Malachite was coming undone. The relationship fueled by hate and vengeance was finally over. For a second, Lapis was relieved. And then she was stricken with panic, and then she was in the ocean, on her own with nobody trying to take control of her body. Jasper had already fled.

Lapis couldn't chase her. She'd be shattered. The only thing worrying her was the fact that she failed. She had messed up, and now Steven was in more danger than ever. And then she reminded herself. She was underwater. She was in the ocean. Water was where she belonged. Nothing was a threat to her down here. She could fight Jasper. She could _shatter_ Jasper if she wanted to. 

She couldn't be that far. This ocean was like her body. If anything large like Jasper was moving through it, it wouldn't be hard to find. Feeling the disturbances, she took a moment to get a hold of herself. The taste of salt was strong. Lapis decided to close her mouth to prevent tasting any more seawater. 

Now she just needed to find Jasper. She needed to find Jasper and apprehend her before anything happened. She needed to protect Steven, because that's all that she had left to do. There was nothing else to do.

Something at the back of her mind yelled a name. A quiet name that Lapis recognized. _Peridot._  She grit her teeth and went faster. She was going to find Jasper. She wasn't going to think about Peridot at all.

Peridot forfeited her right to be cared about when she let Lapis get imprisoned, anyway. 

Lapis no longer cared for her.

The water pushed against Lapis, so Lapis changed the current to go with her. She merely went faster. Despite her greatest efforts, the salt water contained to seep into her mouth. Thinking about it, the salt matched her current personality.

Saltiness.

Lapis was _mad._

_Not fast enough._  She was too slow. Jasper was too quick. Getting increasingly frustrated, Lapis did her best to control the water around the speeding, large disturbance. Hindering Jasper's ability to move was the first part to stopping her completely. It was hard to control from such a distance, though. She was still tired and weary from the fusion. Jasper should be too, but... She had an incredible stamina. One that made Lapis seethe. Her entire body tingled with the sensation of anger. It was somewhat satisfying. _It would be even more satisfying when she dealt with the problem._

That's when she emerged from the ocean and onto the coast of a small island.


	5. Lost and Found

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An island comes into everybody's view, but something is very, very wrong.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Y'all have permission to throw bricks at me, because I have been AWFUL at updating.  
> So I'm sorry about that, but I've been?? Busy??? Maybe???

Something was wrong.

Peridot felt a sickening feeling, sinking in slowly. Something was very wrong, and the gentle rock of the ship sailing across the ocean made it worse. She ignored it, shuffling it to the back of her mind. Leering down at the ocean seemed to have calmed her down slightly.

The calm sea that could have Malachite loitering beneath.

A shiver jolted Peridot to her senses and she looked around wildly at the deck. Everybody seemed to be all sorts of bored and they weren't getting anywhere, despite covering all kinds of sea terrain. Steven and Amethyst whined, Pearl lectured and Garnet... Well, it still remained a mystery to Peridot.

It was boring. No matter what Peridot did to fight the boredom settling in, she was still very, very bored. Letting out a loud groan, she slumped on the barrier separating her and the sea.

"You bored, Peridot?" Came a voice from next to her.

Peridot nearly jumped six feet into the air until she realised it was just Steven. Sighing deeply, she gave an answer, "Yes."

He nodded. "Me too."

There was silence. Peridot broke it within seconds of it's dawning. "How long until we get somewhere, you think?"   
"A long time. It's really foggy out, so if there is any islands... Well, we won't see them." Steven replied.

"I guess." Peridot's gem emitted a light so she could use it as a torch, examining the surface of the sea for unnatural signs. "Just how deep is the ocean?"

Steven looked down at the surface too. "Deep."

They shared another moment of silence before one of the gems called their names. "Yo! Ste-man! P-Dot! Get over here!" Amethyst, obviously.

Switching off the light from her gem, Peridot started towards the front of the boat, Steven following behind. The other three gems were gathered there, staring in awe at something ahead. As soon as Peridot saw it, her eyes widened.

An island. In the middle of nowhere. With foliage and... It was so pretty to look at, even while it was shrouded in fog. Looking to Captain Garnet, Peridot saw the glimmer in her glasses and the smile on her face.

"Gems, get ready to dock." Garnet muttered. She then went back to her captain duties, presumably to slow the ship and prepare the anchor. It was a lot of work, stopping a boat.

Peridot couldn't help but jump in delight. This island was their first clue and their first opportunity to locate Lapis Lazuli. Or Malachite. With the thought of Malachite, a fear settled in that made Peridot worry. Was Lapis actually okay?

The ship stopped moving and the ramp was put down. Everybody was rushed off the ship and onto the sandy beach of the island. Steven seemed to recognise it, because he jumped about, hugging all the trees and giving them... Names?

"It's the Super Holiday Island!" Steven celebrated. "Oh, it's been so long since I've been here! I missed all this stuff for so long!"

"The... Super Holiday Island?" Pearl asked, a dumbfounded expression covering her face.

"It looks more like Super Watermelon Island now, Steven." Amethyst laughed, pointing to a figure in the bushes. A round, Steven-shaped figure. A watermelon Steven.

Peridot recoiled at the sight of it. Steven's face lit up.

"So this is where all of them went..." Steven mumbled, stroking his chin like he was deep in thought. "I missed these guys."

"Uhuh... Why are there Steven-shaped watermelons?!" Peridot asked, turning to the gems.

"Keep your voice down." Garnet mumbled.

"It's a long story, Peridot." Pearl replied, shrugging.

Peridot raised a brow but questioned no more. The gems travelled further off the coast and onto the island. They didn't stray too far, Peridot assumed because they didn't want to become lost among the copious amounts of foliage. Peridot was intimidated by the trees.

There was a loud bang and the rustling of bushes or... Something with leaves. Peridot took a frightened step backwards and the gems summoned their weapons almost immediately. Steven glanced around, searching for a source and Peridot just froze where she was. That noise... What was it? She blinked and looked ahead of herself. There was a clearing through the bushes. Empty.

She climbed through it awkwardly, rolling out into the clearing like a barrel. Standing up, she saw more rustling. And sounds. Sounds of exertion. Fighting. She started towards the rustling and then broke into a run. She only realised the gems were behind her when...

"Peridot! Slow down!"

Into the clearing rolled a rather beat Lapis and after her, Jasper. She was remarkably tall, Peridot remembered. Especially since she was looming over Peridot eerily. Peridot's eyes widened, but then a fist of water slammed into Jasper. Peridot jumped backwards and fell onto the floor. Jasper was knocked back, tripping up.

Peridot felt like she was frozen at that moment and she couldn't move. Lapis and Jasper were fighting and Lapis looked beat. Peridot shook. She hadn't seen Jasper in so long. It had been ages, ever since they were on that warship...

The gems got involved and Jasper was now on the losing side. Peridot watched as Jasper looked to her in a desperate attempt for help. Peridot did nothing. A towering hand of water emerged from a pool of water nearby and gripped Jasper tight. In that moment, Peridot could see the remorseless look embedded in Lapis Lazuli's eyes. Jasper poofed and her gemstone fell to the floor in a cloud of dust. Garnet immediately bubbled it.

Peridot regained the ability to move and noticed Steven at her side once again. He helped her stand up and then proceeded to run straight to Lapis. She didn't seem hostile towards him. Peridot decided to approach, slowly.

Peridot watched as Lapis' eyes narrowed in pure hostility at her. It stung.

Perhaps she'd forgotten the good times they had on that ship? They were never on bad terms. Peridot frowned. She wad scared. She wanted Lapis to like her, but Lapis hated her. She could tell. The misplaced fire in the ocean gem's eyes gave her away. Peridot's voice was quiet when she decided to speak up and be honest.

"Lapis... I'm sorry." She wasn't entirely sure how to go about apologising directly. She'd never been able to get it totally right in the past before. "I should have helped you out, but instead I just... Kept being the lousy, obedient Peridot I was."

Lapis looked rather taken aback at the apology. But she didn't look like she'd forgiven her yet, either. "Peridot."

Lapis' voice was hoarse with disuse. Peridot's name was edged with distaste as it rolled off of Lapis' tongue. Peridot cringed, as if it hurt to hear it. It did hurt to hear her name in such a tone. Lapis hated her.

"Lapis?"

The tension was burning into Peridot and she felt herself sweating anxiously, trying to stop her face from heating up to a peculiar colour out of embarrassment or anything of the like.

"You left me on that ship. You left me for dead." Lapis replied. She had no hiss in her tone, yet no remorse. She'd said it without emotion. Peridot's eyes set onto the ground. She felt awful and sick and she couldn't stop herself from frowning. She felt like crying.

"I shouldn't have. I've changed." Peridot mumbled, not looking up. "I understand my mistakes, Lapis."

Drawing her eyes up slightly, she could see the pained look on Lapis' face. "You used me... To make yourself feel better."

"I didn't mean to! I shouldn't have!" Peridot cried, her face shooting up to face Lapis.

"Peridot..." Lapis' voice was getting quieter every sentence she said. She had a sad frown on her face now. "I thought we were friends. I thought you actually _liked_ me."

Peridot threw her arms in the air. "I do! I ju--"

She was quickly interrupted by Steven who stood in between them both. "No more fighting! We have to go back! We're attracting the watermelons!"

Peridot grumbled under her breath. "And no, this does not mean you're allowed to argue on the ship." Steven cleared up.

Sure enough, watermelon Stevens had started to gather up so they had to rush back while hoping not to be chased by the creatures. Lapis was reluctantly sour towards Peridot for the entire journey back to the barn. It sucked.

Steven stood next to Peridot as the coastline came into view. "Lapis is mad at you."

"I know." Peridot mumbled, staring into the ocean.

"You should try and make it up to her. You can give her a gift!" Steven replied, his face lighting up.

Peridot sighed. "A gift... Tell me about it." 

Steven took a deep breath and went on a lengthy explanation of a gift. "You give it to somebody. It's like a present if you've done something wrong or a reward! It's a nice thing to do for someone, just get her something she likes."

Peridot took a moment to think. "But I can't give her the ocean as a 'gift', Steven."

"No, no!" Steven chuckled. "It doesn't have to be anything big. It'd be nice for her if you were just... thoughtful."

"Thoughtful..." Peridot mumbled. She rubbed her chin, thinking about it. Something thoughtful for Lapis Lazuli. Something nice for her. She glanced at the sandy beach coming into view and saw the small shells littering the coast. It was a nice view. She'd have to talk about that on her tape recorder, too. Tape recorder... Hm. "I think I know what I'm going to give her." A smile emerged on her face and she tried hard to hide it, trying not to look too happy. 

Maybe Lapis would forgive her after all.


	6. Present

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peridot tries to fix the foundations.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank god i'm no longer tied down by trying to go along with canon now.   
> thanks for those leaks, CN. thanks a lot.  
> sorry for slow updates yet again!!

Letting out a soft yawn before clamping a hand over her mouth, Peridot stumbled around the barn rather haphazardly. She'd misplaced her tape recorder and now she had to find it before her plan went to waste. It was a terrible fate indeed, and nobody would help her. Everyone else was just busy.

Lapis Lazuli had been steering clear of Peridot. She'd been steering clear from everyone, in all honesty. Peridot barely saw her. Only little glimpses which were filled with stares and misery. Peridot admitted that maybe she should at least try a little harder to befriend Lapis. Well... At least so she didn't hate her.

She located the recorder and held it in the air, proud of herself. Holding it up, she let out a yell of satisfaction. Pearl glanced across from the other side of the barn and Peridot lowered the tape recorder, a guilty expression on her face. "Sorry."

Replacing the tape with a new, fresh one, Peridot walked outside to go find a secluded spot to record in. She happened to choose the hill over the Gem Temple. It was a nice spot and the lighthouse was pretty. Swinging her legs off the edge, she took a moment to think about what she was going to say. 

Clearing her voice, she hit the record button and reluctantly began without her normal intro. "Hello. This is Peridot. Hopefully, the person listening to this is Lapis Lazuli and if not... Well, I'm moderately disappointed. Pass this onto her. Anyway, Lazuli... I'm sorry." She took a moment to think. "I know it may not seem like I am sorry, but I am. I'm genuinely apologizing for all the terrible things that happened to you that I could have prevented. I hope you can come to forgive me. Despite everything that's happened so far, I'm still learning. I might be learning for a long time. Likewise, I want you to understand that. I just want to apologize, not influence your opinion on me. You can come up with that on you're own. I'm sorry." 

She hit the button and the recording stopped. Letting out a sigh, she looked up to the sky. She'd proceed to ask Steven for the next step. Getting up slowly, she ran down the hill, nearly tripping in the process, and quickly located Steven. He looked confused when she came to a stop in front of him.

"I need help. What's the next step of gift giving?" She asked.

His face lit up. "Oh! Oh! I can help you with that, Peridot!"

"Okay. So I have my gift. What do I do next?" Peridot continued.

"Well... Have you put it in a box and wrapped it up? That's important!" He replied, thinking.

"No?" Peridot answered, a brow raised.

"Wait right here." Steven proceeded to run off to go locate something, presumably to wrap Peridot's 'gift' in. He arrived back a moment later with a small white box with a blue ribbon on it. "I have a small collection of these. You don't have to unwrap it - It's got a lid on it."

He took off the lid on the box and held it out to Peridot, who reluctantly placed the tape recorder within. He looked at the tape recorder and then Peridot. "So, that's your present? What's recorded on it?" 

"...Something." Peridot replied, puffing out her cheeks and looking to the side. 

Steven shrugged, popping the lid back on for Peridot. Peridot snatched the box from Steven's hands, holding it tight. "Okay, you wanna go give it to Lapis now?" Steven asked, tilting his head slightly.

Peridot nodded. "Yes."

Steven jumped from foot to foot excitedly. "Oh, Peridot! You've come such a long way! Lapis is going to be so pleased." He ran off and Peridot jogged behind to keep up with him.

And soon enough, Peridot was stood in front of Lapis who shot an almost deadly glare her way. Peridot saw both Lapis' fists clenched at her sides and she could tell how worried she'd begun to look. Forcing a smile on her face, she feigned a confident look and raised the present to meet Lapis' gaze. "I would like to give you this, Lazuli. I understand if you don't want it, but I'd be greatful if you..."

Lapis took the present from Peridot's hands almost immediately. She went to unwrap it, but Peridot quickly interrupted her to correct her. "It's a lid, you don't have to unwrap it. Just take it off."

Lapis did so, throwing the lid to the side. She stared at the box's contents for a moment, and then to Peridot. Her voice was quiet as she spoke, "What's this?"

Peridot grabbed the tape recorder and took it out of the box. She held it up to show Lapis the buttons. "You see, the thing is... You use this thing to record stuff - It's my tape recorder, but you need it to listen to the tape inside. To record, you press this button-" Peridot indicated to the recording button. "And to play it back, you press this one." She pointed to another button.

She handed it back to Lapis, who took it in her hand again and examined it before hitting play. Peridot's face deepened to a darker green as she heard her voice begin to speak. She held her breath in anticipation as she listened to the apology. She sounded stupid.

She stared at the floor until the recording finished and proceeded to raise her head slightly to look at Lapis. The recorder fell from Lapis' hand and hit the floor. Luckily, it remained intact and Peridot didn't need to panic. She looked up from the recorder and at Lapis with an anxious expression, not entirely reassured. Lapis seemed upset by something - that something presumably Peridot. She bit her lip and winced, taking a step backwards.

"Peridot..." Lapis murmured. Her voice trembled, as if she was going to cry, and Peridot felt herself sinking even further. She felt terrible.

"Thank you." Lapis finished. Peridot looked up, strongly confused, and stare at Lapis. A small smile had grown on Lapis' face, rather than the anger that had seemed like it was permanent. Peridot felt herself give a relieved sigh and a smile of her own.

Steven seemed happy enough. "Yay! You guys are gonna be awesome friends!" He cheered, doing circles around Lapis and Peridot. Lapis laughed and so did Peridot. She felt incredibly happy. Through all her anxiety, she'd actually come through this time...

It was better than she thought, really.

Was it really that easy?


	7. The Drill

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peridot needs to stop sleeping, the gems are starting their drill journey and...
> 
> Steven has to look after Peridot and Lapis.
> 
> Wait, aren't they supposed to be looking after him?!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> LMAO what am i doing i havent posted a new part in like y e a rs im so fricking sorry but yo yo yo eres another part i wrote ages ago idk if im gonna post more of this fic or make a new one because i have like 26 drafts of lapidot fanfictions
> 
> none of which are canon anymore :''')))
> 
> its ok gareg we'll work thru this
> 
> sorry yo have fun reading hope u like this chapter plz kudos and review me <333

Peridot awoke in the middle of the night. Something heavy kept her from jolting up, which merely added to her panic. Her eyes darted around the room frantically and she recognised the arms holding her down. _Lapis_. What the heck was going on here? She was having a nightmare and suddenly she's pinned down by a pair of arms that belonged to the gem that once hated her guts? She felt the panic softly sink in. She couldn't get up. _She couldn't get up_. She struggled out of the tight grip, eventually managing to sit herself up, using her now free hands to wipe her eyes where tears had begun to form. She had to stop trying to sleep, because it wasn't working. She only panicked when she slept. 

The figure slumped next to her stirred and sat up, holding her own head and letting out a yawn. Peridot narrowed her eyes in both curiosity and hostility, wanting to yell at Lapis but merely restraining herself to a soft whisper instead. "What's wrong with you?! I told you that I get nightmares, so don't pin me to the floor!"

Lapis winced at the words, twiddling her fingers awkwardly. She proceeded to whisper back apologetically, her voice barely audible. "I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to do that-- I'm really sorry."

Peridot let out a puff, closing her eyes briefly to take a little breather, running her mind over the course of events so far. A terrible nightmare-- a terrible nightmare _about_ Lapis. She held her head in her hands and shook it continuously. "This is stupid. This is really really stupid-- Lapis I'm sorry, I didn't mean to whisper-yell at you I'm just... Stupid nightmare."

Peridot had begun to yell at herself now rather than Lapis. She was mad at herself for getting mad. She was mad at herself for trying to sleep again and-- and Lapis did nothing wrong, but Peridot was yelling at her. Letting out a loud, aggravated groan, Peridot fell back on the pillows she was sleeping on and watched as Lapis scooched over. 

"You okay?" Lapis asked, looking down at Peridot's face with concern on it.

Peridot nodded idly. "Yeah. I'm sorry." 

Lapis responded with a small smile and proceeded to lie down next to Peridot, staring up at the ceiling with her. Of course, Lapis still kept a little distance. She didn't want to  _embarrass_  Peridot, after all. A little giggle escaped Lapis and Peridot turned to look at her, eyes narrowed. Lapis immediately stopped laughing, barely suppressing her giggle.

"What's so funny?" Peridot asked, puffing out a cheek.

"Nothing. I was just thinking." Lapis replied, looking elsewhere with an innocent face.

Peridot blew air in Lapis' face, eyes remaining narrowed and Lapis hit her playfully. Suddenly, Peridot leapt up and backwards. Lapis froze and so did Peridot. 

"I thought you were going to hit me." Peridot mumbled, staring at Lapis. "Actually hit me."

"What? No, I would never..." Lapis shook her head intensely and narrowed her eyes.

Peridot blew out another puff of air, scrunching her eyes shut. "Yes. I understand that. Contact is still... Strange. Um, sometimes."

Peridot didn't say anything else and neither did Lapis. Standing up, Peridot hustled herself outside towards Steven and the gems. Pearl turned towards Peridot and her face lit up. She rushed over to Peridot.

"We need your help. It's time to run the drill, so we're all going to need to work together to start it up." Pearl said.

"Okay! The coordinates are set and all I need to do is turn on the drill and hope for the best!" Peridot replied, jumping into the drill and messing with the controls.

She listened to the voices while she messed around to turn on the drill. "Garnet, do you think we should take Steven?" Peridot heard Pearl ask.

"Well, we do have Peridot and Lapis to take care of him." Garnet replied.

"Aw, come on! I wanna go on the drill!" Steven groaned.

Peridot peeked her head out. "We'll take care of him."

"Peridot! I wanna go on the drill though!" Steven groaned.

"No, Steven. You'll be staying over ground for now." Pearl replied.

The drill started to whirr and Peridot clapped her hands, jumping out of it. "There. Done."

She watched Lapis trot out of the barn, jogging over. Her dress swayed in the wind and Peridot diverted her attention almost immediately. "What's going on?" Lapis asked, raising a brow.

"Oh, Lapis! So nice of you to join us. We were just about to go on the drill. We need you and Peridot to take care of Steven." Pearl answered.

"Oh." Lapis muttered. "Okay."

"See ya, Perinerd, Lapiwhat." Amethyst said, walking over to the drill.

With that, Peridot returned to the barn and sat on the floor, waiting for the return of Lapis and Steven. She lay down and stared at the barn ceiling blankly. Looking after Steven would probably be less than eventful. Maybe it'd be more like... Steven looking after them.

Oh well.


End file.
